Pubdate: Wed, 21 Apr 2004
Source: Montreal Gazette (CN QU)
Copyright: 2004 The Gazette, a division of Southam Inc.
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/montreal/montrealgazette/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/274
Author: Charlie Fidelman

BUTANE SNIFFING A DEADLY 'HIGH'

Two Local Teens Die After Inhaling Gas With A Lethal Record

The deaths of two Montreal-area teenagers from butane inhalation have 
sparked fears that a deadly craze bedeviling Britain has hit Quebec.

While experts say it's too soon to be alarmed, the easy availability of 
butane gas and related products could be cause for concern.

On Monday, a 17-year-old Brossard boy was found dead in his home; a day 
earlier, a 16-year-old died in similar circumstances in his family home in 
Mont St. Gregoire.

The coroner hasn't released his report, but both victims are believed to 
have died from inhaling butane, a petroleum derivative, from containers 
found near their bodies.

In Britain, an estimated one in five youths has experimented with solvents 
during the past decade. Typically, they "toot" pressurized gas from a 
cigarette-lighter refill or aerosol can.

According to a report by St. George's Medical School in London, about 75 
people die annually from inhaling butane.

An alarming three of 10 die during their first attempt to get high, 
professor Ariel Fenster of the McGill University Office for Science and 
Society said yesterday.

"That's a scary statistic - 30 per cent died during their first use because 
it's so quick."

The syndrome has become known as Sudden Sniffing Death or SSD.

Butane can kill almost instantly, Fenster said, when sprayed directly into 
the throat.

"Gas released under pressure comes out very cold," he said, so the skin 
freezes, the throat swells and the user suffocates.

It also has a disastrous effect on the heart, inducing an irregular 
heartbeat - from racing to cardiac arrest. Users die of either suffocation 
or heart failure.

The toxic gas also deprives the brain of oxygen.

Butane has eight times the death rate of the drug Ecstacy, Fenster said: 
"It's much more lethal."

There's a movement afoot to stop butane sniffing in Britain by getting such 
gas refills off store shelves, but here it's readily available in a variety 
of products, from stove fuel and cigarette lighters to aerosols like hair 
spray and deodorants, said Thomas Brown, director of the addiction research 
program at the Douglas Hospital.

Popular in indigenous communities, solvents are favoured by children 
because of their accessibility, he said.

They don't even have to leave the house to find these chemicals, he said.

"Children can go into their parents' tool kits and find glue or lighter 
fluid, put it in a handkerchief and sniff it. It's easy to get and easy to 
administer," Fenster said. "The alarm bells are ringing about the effects 
of acute intoxication."

Small doses are extremely toxic and can cause permanent brain damage, 
memory loss and learning disabilities, he said.

"It can be quite devastating, especially in young, growing brains, which 
are exquisitely sensitive," he said.

An estimated 30 per cent of U.S. adolescents have experimented with such 
solvents.

No statistics are kept on the misuse of butane in Canada.

In 2001, the latest year for which data is available, Statistics Canada 
reported 13 deaths - including 11 from intentional poisoning - from 
solvents in youths age 15 to 19.

Catherine Saunders of Health Canada said solvents are less likely to be 
abused than cocaine, hallucinogenics and marijuana.

While some have suggested that solvents might be a gateway to illegal drug 
use, Allan Farkas, facility director of Portage West Island, a treatment 
centre for youth with drug problems, said he hasn't seen an increase in 
butane sniffing: "I haven't seen it as a trend from the kids I have in 
treatment here. Some have experimented with solvents, but it's never a 
first choice for substance abuse."

Albert Nantel, medical adviser to the Quebec Institute of Public Health, 
said butane might be popular elsewhere - Britain, Brazil, the United States 
- - but has yet to reach Quebec.

"I hope it's not a trend but just an unfortunate accident and that these 
kids made a mistake about the product," Nantel said about this week's deaths. 
- ---
MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart